What a Nonprofit Learns About Building University Partnerships

In Chapter 19 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Courtney Spence answers "How Has Your Nonprofit Built Relationships With Universities and How is This Changing?" Experience teaches Spence to appreciate every university is different - from students to culture to community. When looking at a college campus partnership opportunity, Spence and her team focus on students first, then administration, then alumni as they scale university relationships. Social entrepreneur and storyteller Courtney Spence founded 501c3 nonprofit Students of the World (SOW) to shine a light on progress and celebrate the world's problem solvers. She is building a movement of next-generation storytellers and creative activists through the SOW program The Creative Activist Network. Spence is a graduate of Duke University.

Bijoy Goswami on a Simple Way to Improve Public Speaking Skills

In Chapter 8 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Are You Improving Your Public Speaking Skills as You Gain Experience?" Goswami notes the importance of being present when he speaks. He finds presence allows him to be more flexible and adjust his approach to best fit the audience and the environment. He learns this over many years after taking a public speaking course as an undergrad at Stanford. Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University.

Brett Goldman on How College Summer Jobs Teach Hard Work Ethic

In Chapter 3 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, real estate developer Brett Goldman answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?"  Goldman shares how he first learned work ethic from his father and how it influenced early jobs in his life. Working summer jobs while in college, Goldman paints houses and sharpens his work ethic doing cold calls.  The perseverance needed to get business is a skill he still uses today working in real estate. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Creating Internships to Help Students Start Real Estate Careers

In Chapter 15 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, real estate developer Brett Goldman answers "What is Your Approach to Providing Interns an Experience that Prepares Them for a Real Estate Career?" Goldman starts by teaching interns the fundamentals of real estate development research. By going to county registrar offices to understand real estate records, title information, block and lot maps, and title insurance,, Goldman teaches his interns what it means to own real estate and how the real estate ownership process works. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Jason Anello on Writing a Life Goals List to Guide Career

In Chapter 1 of 20 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and Manifold ad agency co-founder Jason Anello answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?"  Anello always tries to slow down and reflect at different points in his life.  He shares an example from college, when he wrote a list of seven life goals and how he has worked toward achieving them in his life. 

Jason Anello is a founding partner and creative director at Manifold Partners, an award-winning creative advertising agency.  Previously, Anello worked in creative leadership roles at Yahoo!, Ogilvy & Mather, and Digitas.  A passionate foodie and traveler, he runs the Forking Tasty food blog and supper club series.  He earned a BFA from University at Albany.

Kyung B. Yoon on the Parenting Transition of Sending Kids Off to College

In Chapter 6 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "How Are You and Your Husband Managing the Transition of Sending Your Kids Off to College?"  Yoon shares her experience sending her oldest teenage son off to college.  She discusses how the process has informed how she and her husband are preparing to send their youngest son to college and readying for the empty nest that will result when they both will be gone. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Anatole Faykin: How to Improve Entrepreneurship MBA Programs

In Chapter 8 of 12 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Can MBA Programs Better Educate Entrepreneurs?"  Faykin notes that for business school programs to more effectively teach entrepreneurship, it is paramount students are forced to actually create and launch a startup while in school.  He points out that a graduate business school environment does provide MBA students studying entrepreneurship benefits, in particular the ability to start something in a low-risk environment. 

Anatole Faykin is an entrepreneur currently working on a new startup as part of the Startup Chile incubator program in Santiago, Chile.  Previously, Faykin founded Tuanpin, a Shanghai, China-based daily deals site he grew to 25 employees and sold in the fall of 2011. He has worked for British Telecom in London, Intel in Shanghai, American Express in New York, and Oracle in San Francisco as well as several startups. He holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BS in computer science and biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Anatole Faykin: How to Turn Your Bad Habits Into Strengths

In Chapter 10 of 12 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Are You Learning to Better Manage Your Time and Commitments?"  Faykin notes he is not improving how he manages his time and commitments.  He finds it more important to having the freedom to get things done and using creativity and flexibility to meet deadlines and project goals.  He notes "bad habits die hard" and that changing your style is not always better than learning to work within your style. 

Anatole Faykin is an entrepreneur currently working on a new startup as part of the Startup Chile incubator program in Santiago, Chile.  Previously, Faykin founded Tuanpin, a Shanghai, China-based daily deals site he grew to 25 employees and sold in the fall of 2011. He has worked for British Telecom in London, Intel in Shanghai, American Express in New York, and Oracle in San Francisco as well as several startups. He holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BS in computer science and biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Simon Sinek on How Parents Support Career Change Decision

In Chapter 1 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "Where Has Your Family Been Most Supportive in Your Career Development?"  Sinek talks about his time studying law in London and deciding to drop out of law school for a career in advertising.  He notes that while his parents did much to influence Sinek to stay in school, ultimately they gave him space to make his own decision and, once decided, supported him in that decision.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  His goal is to "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and help others find fulfillment in their work.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  Where has your family been most supportive in your career development?

Simon Sinek:  When I graduated college, I went to law school. And after not quite a year of law school, I realized that I didn’t wanna be a lawyer. And so I decided that I was gonna drop out of law school. And I never fought so much with my parents than during this time and to make it even worse, I was living in London, going to law school there, and so they—I didn’t see them everything was over the phone, and I remember my parents tried everything. They played good cop-bad cop. They tried bribing me. They tried saying, we’re your parents and you’re gonna do this. They tried being my friend like, look, just get your law degree, then you can do anything you want. I mean, every strategy that exists, they tried, right? They tried ganging up on me, they tried leaving me alone. I mean, everything. You name it.

And my dad came to—And at the time I wanted to go in to marketing. I wanted to go into—join the ad world, right? And my dad was in England on a business trip, at about the time that I had to re-enroll, and he sits down with me, and says, so? I remember it. We were sitting in our friend’s house, a mutual friend of his, we were sitting in their house in their living room. I remember this scene exactly. And he says to me, so? And I said, I didn’t re-enroll. And the first words out of his mouth were, right, let’s get you into advertising then.

My parents were 100% against me until the decision was made, then after that point they’re 100% supportive and never, ever, ever raised it ever again. They never said, wouldn’t it have been nice or I guess this was—they literally never mentioned it again. And so I have to say, my—I’ve been very lucky in my life which is my parents will give advice, my parents will give strong advice, my parents will try and push and move you know where they would like their children to go but ultimately, once the kids have made the decision they’re 100% supportive. And so I’ve been very lucky.

Simon Sinek on How to Make Better Choices and Live More Fully

In Chapter 11 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Are You Learning to Make Better Decisions?"  To Sinek, decision making comes down to using personalized filters that help him achieve outcomes in line with his purpose.  He shares an example from choosing classes in college and how the outcome - good class vs. bad class, engaged learning vs. boredom - helped him start to shape his approach.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  His goal is to "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and help others find fulfillment in their work.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How are you learning to make better decisions?

Simon Sinek:  Decision-making is a process. The question is what filters are you using to make decisions? Are you making decisions based on the financial rewards? Are you making decisions based on how easy the work will be? I remember in college, they would give you this book where they –all the students would rate the classes and they would rate things like how easy the class was and how much they liked the professor. And, you know, the first year, I picked all my classes based on workload, and I picked everything a low workload, you know? And pretty bored, didn’t work very hard, which was fine, but nothing was dynamic, and nothing really excited me, and I, thank goodness, learned that. And so the second year, I picked all my classes by professor rating, regardless of the workload, so every class I had, I had these dynamic amazing incredible human beings passing on their knowledge and you were excited to work hard for them.

And so again, the question is what are the filters we’re using, and so if you’re only chasing the mighty dollar, then you’ll have jobs that’ll pay you a little more than the last but are you enjoying yourself? And I talked to a guy recently who was in a—he’s in bad shape like he really hates his life and he’s really depressed, and he doesn’t know what to do. And so we’re going through all his old jobs, you know, and I said, give me a job that you’ve loved, and he hadn’t, every single job he’s chosen out of college, he picked because of the money, and if something offered him more somewhere else, he took it. You know? Regardless. And the amazing thing is he plateaued because if you’re only chasing the result, if you’re only chasing the thing that makes it easy, right? Then eventually you will get bored, or they’ll get bored of you, right? And you plateau. In other words, chasing the almighty dollar, if that’s your only thing, it eventually flattens out, whereas if you’re chasing the thing that excites you, the human beings to be around, the work that excites you, the stuff that you know, you can get passionate about, the irony is, is you’ll actually make way, way more, right?

Because you’re excited and they appreciate your excitement and they reward your excitement, and you’re better at your work because you wanna work harder and all of that stuff. You don’t have the strain to work harder. So decision-making is simply a matter of filters. And so I’ve made decisions in my life that I would rather be happy than right, I’d rather do good than get rich. And so the decisions I make put me in positions where when I leave any engagement, when I leave any meeting, I feel that I’ve contributed, right? Rare are the times any more where you walk around going, just think of the money, just think of the money, think of the money, because it doesn’t feel nice. And the experience I have I don’t enjoy traveling to them and I don’t enjoy traveling home, where if I have an amazing experience, I’m looking forward to getting there and I’m excited when I leave. So it’s just decision—decision-making is just a matter of what filters you use, and if you’re good about keeping those filters up and clear then make your decision. I don’t judge anybody by how—if they choose to use different filters, these are just the filters I choose to live my life. Not right or wrong, just those are my decisions. That’s my filter.

How Hands On Experience Shapes Design Career Path - Ross Floate

In Chapter 17 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Has Working With Your Hands Shaped Your Design Education?"  Floate finds it is less about the physical act of making things and, rather, taking pride in the things you make.  Floate finds he dislikes cooking for others, which helps him think about why hands-on work as a child also didn't register with him.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

How to Fix Entrepreneurship Skill Gaps in Education - Richard Moross

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Can the Education System Better Prepare Entrepreneurs?"  Moross notes the high occurrence of the education system failing to educate entrepreneurs.  He notes the importance of education teaching core skills such as how to argue, how to make a case and how to plan strategy.  He finds it is less about teaching students how to start companies and more about providing access and training to core skills, especially programming or writing code, as well as a broader cultural education that starting a company is a viable career option.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

Jon Kolko: How Design Career Choices are Changing

In Chapter 19 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, design educator Jon Kolko answers "How Do You See Design Career Choices Changing?"  Kolko notes how design careers in the United States are going through a massive overhaul.  For the very top craftsman, there will be jobs in furniture design, graphic design and industrial design.  For the majority, however, students career choices benefit from changing design programs, including interaction design, interactive design, service design, systems thinking and organizational management.  

Jon Kolko is the founder and director of the Austin Center for Design.  He has authored multiple books on design, including "Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving."  Previously he has held senior roles at venture accelerator Thinktiv and frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do you see design career choices changing?

Jon Kolko: So, design as a whole in the US is undergoing a massive overhaul whether it wants to or not. And so, typical professions like graphic design, and industrial design, and furniture design still exist and for those in the 1% and 0.01% percent who are just exceptional craftsmen will get awesome jobs doing them and will get awesome jobs and be happy forever after. But there’s always been sort of a middle ground of, the mid-60 percent in the Bell Curve of designers who just aren’t very good. They're not bad, they're just not very good and they will not be able to get jobs doing graphic design, industrial design, and furniture design anymore. And they may or may not have been taught to do anything else, in which case they’re sort of shit out of luck, which is awful. It's a huge disservice to them because when you're 22 years old, you don’t know any better. You trust your professors and you trust the program you're going through. That the stuff I'm learning is relevant, right? Well, you wouldn’t be teaching it to me if it wasn’t, right? 

So, consequently and probably a decade too late, but still consequently all of the programs in the US are starting to reevaluate what they're teaching. And so you're starting to see programs in interaction design, programs in interactive design, programs in service design and systems thinking, and amorphous programs and design management and organizational change, all of which probably have a component of this design thinking stuff and also still this design-making stuff but the making is really, really, different. 

Service design, which I've always thought of as part of interaction design but I realized I'm in a huge minority and that’s probably a topic for a different point. Service design is poised to be the most needed thing in the United States as we transform into an entirely services-based economy. And so, you go like, “Fine, we're not going to do manufacturing anymore and we still have 300 changed million people, like what are they going to do for a living? Well, they're going to provide services. 

And so, somebody’s going to have to design those services and then train them how to do it. And service could mean anything from service in a healthcare capacity, just walk into the hospital and what happens, start to finish, or it can mean the really menial, like McDonald’s service worker, both of which are designed and both of which need a team of designers and all the agencies and consultancies and advertising, all that horse shit that comes with it to support it. And so, that’s what we're starting to see creep up in design schools and you're seeing it, you know, at the name schools but all of the community colleges and all of the state schools will follow.

How to Choose a College Major You Can Use All Your Life

In Chapter 11 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, Boxee co-founder and head of product Idan Cohen answers "How Did You Choose What to Study at College and How Has It Remained Relevant as You Have Gotten Older?"  Cohen references his time at Tel Aviv University and his shift in studies from computer science (CS) to physics and art history.  He takes a physics class and loves it.  As the math gets more complex, Cohen complements the physics classes with art, photography, music and architecture classes.  He finds apprenticeship or on the job learning the best ways to learn techical skills and recommends using the college experience to build useful day to day life skills and tools. 

This is Idan Cohen's Year 1 Capture Your Flag interview.  Cohen is co-founder and head of product at Boxee Inc, an online video software company.  Previous to Boxee, Cohen held telecom software innovation and developer roles at Comverse.  He was a Captain in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Geophysics and Art.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How did you choose what to study at college and how has it remained relevant as you’ve gotten older?

Idan Cohen: So I chose to study physics and art history, and I got there in a pretty weird way, because I started off—I started off studying—I did one semester in CS, in Computer Science, and I just—I already knew how to program and it was a lot of math, and it was just like very theoretical programming, and I was just not interested and disengaged, and then I said, okay, I’ll switch to—I actually did a semester in chemistry, and I said, okay, this is also interesting but then I saw that actually what’s interesting for me is physics, then I did a semester in physics and I said, this is great. I enjoy it. It’s a little bit of like a manual for universe, you suddenly understand how things work, from very big things to very small things, to just this thing moving on the table and friction between the table and whatever, and gravity, I loved it. 

But I needed something a little bit more for the soul and as I saw the math getting more complex, I took art history in addition, and that was great because suddenly I was in the university, I was going to these very, you know, technical theoretical math and physics classes but then going and studying about art and photography and music and architecture, and it was awesome. 

Looking back at it, then I think it’s all just tools for life, and I think that that’s what most people should look at when they’re going to college, if you are going to go to college, I believe a lot in just apprenticeship, you know, a little bit like, we—like the path that I took, I mean going for instance into the army then having someone to learn from, how to code, or how to, you know, whatever we did there just—but someone that works with you, so you don’t need all of the theoretical knowledge but someone will help you get into it, and I really believe in that, just learning on the job. 

And on the other hand, there’s very few real professions that you can come out of academia with, so, you know, if you wanna be a medical doctor, probably you need to go there, although, as well, by the way, they learn a lot of theory and then they learn a lot on the job. If you wanna be an accountant or a lawyer, probably you need to go there ‘cause there’s a lot of theoretical material that you should learn. But then there’s so many things that just have nothing to do with sitting in class and studying. 

So if you are going to go there, just make sure you’re gonna study something that is very broad, very shallow, but is gonna give you tools—thinking tools that you can apply later in life. So from, you know, just understanding history or how things were made, and why, and being able to appreciate a work of art or, you know, physics, and just even though I probably forgot a lot of what I studied, and just being able to look at things and understand better how the—you know, what they’re made out of, and how exactly they function, I think that’s great, it’s just—it’s really useful day-to-day tools, and I wish that people would focus more about that. 

I think that when they go to college, they are so obsessed with what they’re gonna do in life, and we’re so privileged compared to our parents for instance, that probably we’re gonna—every 10 years, we’re gonna change what we’re doing, like there’s something about today’s environment that just allows us to do that, so don’t focus on that, just focus on what theoretical knowledge you can obtain now that will serve you through life, and not necessarily through the next 10 years.

How Student Government Influences Political Career Choice - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 4 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Did Your Student Government College Experience Shape Your Career Ambition?"  Biberaj shares his experience attending American University in Washington D.C. and his decision to run for student body president at the end of his sophomore year.  He talks about the election and running the campaign and what the student government experience taught him about politics.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing.  Previously he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University. 

Harvard Kennedy School Impact on Public Service Career - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 5 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Did Your Harvard Kennedy School of Government Education Open New Possibilities in Your Public Service Career?"  Biberaj shares why his Harvard experience was so fulfilling.  He contrasts the political focus of his American University undergraduate experience with the public service focus, specifically on tri-sector competence.  He also shares how he was able to make the most of experiences inside and outside the classroom.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing.  Previously he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University. 

How Law School Education Propels Real Estate Career - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 13 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "How Have You Applied Your Law School Education in Your Real Estate Career?"  After arriving in New York City in 2005, Biberaj takes night school courses at New York Law School to learn the law associated with real estate.  The experience helps him learn real estate while working a full time job.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing.  Previously he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University. 

How to Handle Rejection - Jason Anello

In Chapter 16 of 20 in his 2012 interview, creative director Jason Anello answers "How Do You Deal With Rejection?" Anello shares how he has learned to be creative when facing adversity and rejection.  He uses an example from his college experience and shares how what he learned in that experience has been useful managing rejection in his career.  Jason Anello is a founding partner and creative director at marketing services agency Manifold Partners.  He is also the co-founder of the Forking Tasty Brooklyn supper club.  Previously, Anello held creative leadership roles at Yahoo! and Ogilvy & Mather.  He graduated from the University at Albany.